System and method for developing sales content

ABSTRACT

A system and method of developing sales information for use in a buyer-seller environment is directed to providing one or more qualifiers which relate to a sales offering; determining value criteria, for each qualifier, to identify potential value of the sales offering; determining ideal buying criteria based on a competitive analysis; and developing the sales information from the value and buying criteria. The sales information, which can be a letter of understanding (LOU) or a buyer needs assessment, can be stored on a server and updated and accessed by one or more sellers. The updating can be an iterative process that is responsive to feedback about the sales information.

RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a divisional of U.S. application Ser. No.10/742,628, filed Dec. 19, 2003, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,449,870, issued onMar. 3, 2009. The entire teachings of the above application isincorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND

Selling is considered to be both a science and an art. Selling as ascience falls into three general categories. The first general categoryis scientific research in human communication and how people learn andretain information, psychology, neuroscience, and human achievement. Thesecond general category is processes—identifying the processes toidentify qualified prospects, to conduct thorough and accurate customerneeds assessments, to effectively engage sales support resources, todevelop customer centered solutions, and finally the process tonegotiate and close the sale. The third general category is bestpractices—identifying the best practices of the top sales performers.The marketing organization in any company is generally responsible forproviding the sales channels with the science of “who to sell” and “howto sell” information for each product or service offering. The saleschannel is responsible for implementing the selling information providedby marketing.

The art of selling is in the application of the “science” or sellinginformation provided by marketing to the sales channel. As in anydiscipline, the individual who knows the most science is able to do themost with their art. As a result, marketing plays a vital role inhelping the sales channel excel in the art of selling.

Almost every company has a marketing plan that focuses on the needs ofthe customer in the marketplace. The marketing plan identifies targetmarkets, potential revenue, and the types of products, services, andsolutions that a company must produce to meet or exceed customerexpectations. Marketing plans also frequently include a messagingstrategy and some discussion of how the company's offerings will bepublicized or promoted within the target markets.

As new offerings are released, the sales channel is provided withproduct and industry training which typically focuses on the featuresand benefits of the offering. After the sales channel completes theproduct and industry training they are expected to sell the new offeringbased on the information provided by marketing.

Most companies also have a sales strategy. The sales strategy identifiesthe sales channels needed to effectively sell the offering. It alsodescribes how territories and quotas will be established to meet therevenue projections outlined in the marketing plan. As part of the salesstrategy, besides providing the sales channel with industry and producttraining, it is also necessary to identify the competencies and salesskills needed by each sales person to effectively close business.Various sales skills training programs are usually provided on anongoing basis with programs focused on a single skill or group ofskills. After the sales channel completes sales skill training, they areexpected to use these skills to meet the sales revenue quotas outlinedin the marketing plan.

What is missing in traditional marketing plan and sales strategyimplementation is the integration of information learned in product andindustry training with the randomly acquired sales skills training. As aresult, each sales person often must devote a significant amount of timetrying to integrate industry and product data with randomly acquiredsales skills into useable selling information for every product,service, or solution.

With individuals in the sales channel having to develop sellinginformation on their own, the selling information is usually incompleteor inaccurate; it can be extremely difficult to identify, share, andleverage best practices; and productivity is diminished because thesales person spends more time preparing for sales calls and less timeface to face selling. The individual sales person approach to developselling information results in longer sales cycles, lower closingratios, and higher costs of sale.

The type of selling information that marketing organizations typicallyprovide to the sales channels usually falls into three generalcategories of information: “what to sell” information, “who to sell”information, and “how to sell” information. It is estimated that over80% of the information that marketing typically provides to the saleschannel is in the “what to sell” information category. Some examples mayinclude: What are the performance characteristics? What is the industryinformation? What are the pricing guidelines? What are the promotionalactivities? What type of marketing literature will be available, andwhat are the features and benefits of the offering?

Marketing organizations usually are good at providing this important“what to sell” information. Unfortunately, “what to sell” informationdoes not drive sales productivity. The sales channel needs to know whois best suited for the offering and how to sell the offering to them.Quality “who to sell” and “how to sell” information is needed by thesales channel to effectively implement marketing plans and salesstrategies.

SUMMARY

The absence of quality “who to sell” and “how to sell” information and acommon sales communication language is one reason why there is often a“disconnect” between marketing and the sales channel. Thus, there is aneed for improvements that can help bridge the gap between thetraditional marketing plan and sales strategy implementation inorganizations. The present approach provides a system and method thatallows marketing organizations to provide quality selling informationthat can help sales channels to quickly locate the best prospects foreach offering and information on how to effectively close sales.

An advantage of the present system and method is that it allowscompanies to develop and implement marketing plans as an organization,rather than as individuals or separate business units. According to oneaspect, a process is provided that enables product development,marketing and sales personnel to develop quality “who to sell” and “howto sell” information for one or more sales channels for product andservice offerings. In an embodiment, the quality selling information isdeveloped through a series of interrelated templates of a sales guide.

Another aspect relates to how the sales channel uses this qualityselling information to develop and document customer needs assessments.Yet another aspect is directed to providing feedback from the saleschannel to the marketing organization to update and refine the qualityselling information included in the sales guide based on interactionwith one or more customers of the product or service offering.

Accordingly, a method of developing sales information for use in abuyer-seller environment includes providing one or more qualifiers whichrelate to a sales offering; determining value criteria, for eachqualifier, to identify potential value of the sales offering;determining ideal buying criteria based on a competitive analysis; anddeveloping the sales information from the value and buying criteria. Thesales information, which can be a letter of understanding (LOU) or abuyer needs assessment, can be stored on a server and updated andaccessed by one or more sellers. The updating can be an iterativeprocess that is responsive to feedback about the sales information.

According to another aspect, a system for developing a customer needsassessment includes a qualifier template identifying at least onequalifier pertaining to a sales offering; a value template coupled tothe qualifier template, the value template including at least one of thequalifiers from the qualifier template; a competitive analysis templateproviding ideal buying criteria in connection with the sales offering;and customer needs assessment data including output from the valuetemplate and the competitive analysis template. The templatesinterrelate to define a sales guide. The system further includes aserver for storage and retrieval of the sales guide and customer needsassessment data or LOU.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The foregoing and other objects, features and advantages of theinvention will be apparent from the following more particulardescription of preferred embodiments of the invention, as illustrated inthe accompanying drawings in which like reference characters refer tothe same parts throughout the different views. The drawings are notnecessarily to scale, emphasis instead being placed upon illustratingthe principles of the invention.

FIG. 1 illustrates a process for developing quality selling informationusing information templates.

FIG. 2A illustrates an embodiment of a customer engagement modeltemplate.

FIG. 2B illustrates the template of FIG. 2A with sample information.

FIG. 3 illustrates an embodiment of a perception continuum template.

FIG. 4A illustrates an embodiment of a QICpic or ideal customer profiletemplate.

FIG. 4B illustrates the template of FIG. 4A with sample information.

FIG. 5A illustrates an embodiment of a customer benefits template.

FIGS. 5B and 5C illustrate the template of FIG. 5A with sampleinformation.

FIG. 6A illustrates an embodiment of a value questions template.

FIGS. 6B, 6C and 6D illustrate the template of FIG. 6A with sampleinformation.

FIG. 7A illustrates an embodiment of an anticipated objections template.

FIGS. 7B and 7C illustrate the template of FIG. 7A with sampleinformation.

FIG. 8A illustrates an embodiment of a return on investment (ROI)spreadsheet template.

FIG. 8B illustrates the template of FIG. 8A with sample information.

FIG. 9A illustrates an embodiment of a competitive landscape template.

FIG. 9B illustrates the template of FIG. 9A with sample information.

FIG. 10A illustrates an embodiment of a win/lose ground rules template.

FIG. 10B illustrates the template of FIG. 10A with sample information.

FIG. 11A illustrates an embodiment of a competitive tactics template.

FIG. 11B illustrates the template of FIG. 11A with sample information.

FIG. 12A illustrates an embodiment of a probability questions template.

FIG. 12B illustrates the template of FIG. 12A with sample information.

FIG. 13A illustrates an embodiment of a value proposition template.

FIGS. 13B and 13C illustrate the template of FIG. 13A with sampleinformation.

FIG. 14A illustrates an embodiment of a two-minute drill template.

FIG. 14B illustrates the template of FIG. 14A with sample information.

FIG. 15 illustrates a process for using quality selling information todocument customer needs assessments.

FIG. 16 is a block diagram of a quality selling information system.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The present system and method relates to improvements for developingquality selling information with respect to product and serviceofferings for use by sales channels to provide customer needsassessments. The present approach employs a series of interrelatedtemplates to develop the quality selling information.

An embodiment of a process for developing quality selling information inthe form of a sales guide is now described with reference to FIG. 1. Theprocess shown includes the following templates: description of theoffering template 1, customer engagement model template 2, perceptioncontinuum template 3, QICpic or ideal customer profile template 4,customer benefits template 5, value questions template 6, anticipatedobjections template 7, return on investment (ROI) spreadsheet template8, competitive landscape template 9, win/lose ground rules template 10,competitive tactics template 11, probability questions template 12,value proposition template 13, two-minute drill template 14, andproposal template 15. The relationships between the templates and therespective roles in developing the quality information will be apparentfrom the following description of the individual templates. It should beunderstood that not all of the templates described herein are requiredto be used to develop a sales guide. It should also be understood thatthe process described is useful for developing a variety of salesguides, each tailored for one or more product or service offerings. Useof the developed sales guides by sales persons to document customerneeds assessments is described further herein.

The description of the offering template 1 provides the sales channelwith a succinct overview of the offering. The customer engagement modeltemplate 2 provides the sales channel with the steps of sale, as well astools and resources available at each step of sale to quickly andprofitably close the sale. The perception continuum template 3 describeswhere the company and the offering are viewed in the marketplace.

The QICPic or ideal customer profile template 4 helps the sales channelquickly identify prospects that would benefit most by purchasing theoffering. The ideal customer profile is also used to develop qualityselling information including positive and negative qualifiers that areused in a messaging process described further herein.

As shown in FIG. 1, the customer benefits, value questions andanticipated objections templates 5, 6, 7 link from the QICpic template4. The customer benefits template 5 helps the sales channel identify theprimary and secondary contacts that would benefit most by purchasing theoffering. The value questions template 6 provides the sales channel withquestions that will help to uncover the value of an offering, based onpositive qualifiers identified in the QICpic template 4. The anticipatedobjections template 7 provides the sales channel with answers toanticipated objections and customer misunderstandings, based on negativequalifiers identified in the QICpic template 4. The ROI template 8,linked from the value questions template 6, helps the sales channelquantify the value of an offering for the customer.

The competitive landscape template 9 provides the sales channel with acomparison of the strengths and weaknesses of an offering againstcompetitive alternatives. The competitive landscape is also used tocreate quality selling information in the messaging process. Thewin/lose ground rules template 10 identifies criteria relating toreasons why sales are typically won and lost. The competitive tacticstemplate 11 provides the sales channel with tactics competitors may useto position their offerings against the client offerings. Theprobability question template 12 provides the sales channel withquestions that can help determine the probability of eventually closinga sale. In particular, the capabilities of the client offering in thecompetitive landscape template 9 that are ranked higher than competitiveofferings are used to develop ideal buying criteria queries orprobability questions. In addition, the ranked capabilities from thecompetitive landscape 9 are used to develop the value propositiontemplate 13.

The two-minute drill template 14 provides the sales channel with anopening sales presentation that can quickly earn the trust andconfidence of the customer. The proposal template 15 saves the saleschannel time in developing and assembling sales proposals.

Having briefly described the templates and their relationships, thefollowing describes in further detail aspects of the templates. Inaddition, the templates are described in relation to an example offeringthat illustrates the operation of the system and method for developquality selling information.

As noted above, the description of the offering template 1 (FIG. 1)provides a brief overview of the offering for the sales channel. Thedescription of the offering includes information concerning details ofthe product or service offering and how the offering helps customers.The following is an example description of the offering that is usedthroughout the specification to illustrate the present system andmethod:

Description of the Offering What it is How it helps customers TheFiktishus Web Management solution This solution provides customers witha employs a suite of both existing and competitive edge by helping themunreleased Fiktishus software (under the consolidate operations and linkto their Code Name: XYZ) in an entirely new global network ofdistributors and dealers configuration. The offering from Fiktishus forthe products they manufacture. Each is being augmented by services fromour prospect for this offering will not only be new implementationpartner, ABCD company. able to link to their trading partners (who ABCDis the largest and most might supply raw materials and other well-knownservices organization when it critical components) but also provides acomes to implementing web-based direct link to the ultimate end user ofthe extranet solutions for business-to-business product. End users andtrading partners applications. This partnership allows us to will bothhave access to use a well- leverage our ability to develop customizeddesigned and easy-to-navigate site tailored to solutions built on anarchitecture that will their language, locale, and business practices.serve the customer for many years to Partners and end users will be ableto: come. Enter or acknowledge orders The XYZ offering consists ofanalysis Track order status software; intruder detection software; Trackdelivery progress customizable user interface; and Track paymentstransaction management software. and review warranty and service statusAll applications run on Windows NT Best of all, the only technologyinvestment platforms. their partners and end-users need is access ABCDwill be providing services which to an Internet browser. With this newinclude: solution, we anticipate that our clients can Architecturalplanning and design grow closer to their customers, and enableApplication planning & design suppliers to provide direct consumerInstallation access. This offering is part of our Implementationstrategy to build a foundation for effective And on-going supportbusiness-to-business and business-to- consumer marketing.

The purpose of the customer engagement model template 2 (FIG. 1) is toprovide the sales channel with the steps of sale and sales supportresources necessary to quickly and profitably guide customers throughthe sales process and it is usually unique for each offering. Thissection describes how to develop a unique sales process for everyoffering. An embodiment of a customer engagement model template 2 isshown in FIG. 2A. The template 2 includes sections directed to steps 40,average time between 42, number of days to agreement 44, probability ofclosing at each step 46, and resources and tools available 48. While thetemplate is shown with ten steps, there is no limitation on the numberof steps that may be included in the template. A customer engagementmodel template 2 with sample information for the illustrative example isshown in FIG. 2B.

As noted above, the perception continuum template 3 (FIG. 1) describeswhere the company and the offering are viewed in the marketplace. Anembodiment of a perception continuum template 3 is shown in FIG. 3. Thetemplate 3 includes a section directed to identifying market area 50 anda continuum bar 52 having hash indicia representing a range from mostnegative perception at one end to most positive perception at the otherend.

Section 54 instructs a user to identify current perception by indicatingwith a marking, e.g., a circle, on the continuum bar 52. Section 56instructs the user to identify with another marking on the bar 52 theperception viewed as being required to win in the marketplace. Atsection 58, the user is instructed to assess whether moving from thecurrent perception to the required perception is realistic. Section 60provides an area for the user to indicate how such perception might bemoved.

The QICpic template 4 (FIG. 1) is designed to help the sales channelidentify qualified prospects. It enables users to develop anunderstanding of the ideal customer profile. An embodiment of a QICpictemplate 4 is shown in FIG. 4A. The template 4 includes a starting point61 and ending point 67 selected for prospect qualification. Preferably,the starting point 61 should be clear, measurable and easilyunderstandable. The ending point 67 is typically a closed sale; however,it might also represent a pilot program, site visit, or other definedend point.

The QICpic template 4 is divided into three assessment benchmarkcategories: likely business problems or needs 62, attitudes and beliefs64, and attributes of the business 66. There are three process steps foreach assessment benchmark category. This three step process consists ofcategory identification and the listing of positive qualifiers 70 andnegative qualifiers 68 for each assessment benchmark category.

In the first assessment benchmark category 62, the first step is toidentify the likely customer problems and needs. Next is to listpositive qualifiers 70 for the likely customer problems and needs. Thethird step is to list the negative qualifiers 68 for the likely customerproblems and needs and to categorize the negative qualifiers as either“cautions,” represented in FIG. 4A as a yield sign 63, or“show-stoppers,” represented as a stop sign 65.

In the second assessment benchmark category 64, the first step is toidentify the attitudes and beliefs. The second step is to list positivequalifiers 70 for the attitudes and beliefs. The third step is to listthe negative qualifiers 68 for the attitudes and beliefs and tocategorize the negative qualifiers as either “cautions” 63 or“show-stoppers” 65.

Similarly, in the third assessment benchmark category 66, the first stepis to identify the business attributes. Next is to list positivequalifiers 70 for the business attributes. The third step is to list thenegative qualifiers 68 for the business attributes and to categorize thenegative qualifiers as either “cautions” 63 or “show-stoppers” 65.

Ideally, the information used to create the QICpic template is gatheredwith input from other members of the marketing team, as well as from thesales organization. Also, the QICpic is most easily developed using atemplate developed in Microsoft PowerPoint. Preferably, the QICpictemplate is updated on a regular basis to reflect changes in thebusiness environment and/or input from the sales channel.

A QICpic template with sample information for the illustrative exampleis shown in FIG. 4B. In this example, the starting point 61 identifies acontact person or level at a particular type of customer. The endingpoint 67 in this example identifies a particular action, i.e.,contacting a regional marketing representative.

The customer benefits template 5 (FIG. 1) is directed to helping thesales channel identify the primary and secondary contacts that wouldbenefit most by purchasing the offering. An embodiment of a customerbenefits template 5 is shown in FIG. 5A. The template includes sectionsdirected to identifying key customer problems 72, impact/benefit ofsolving problem 74, those persons, functions or organizations that careabout the problem and solution 76, and whether the identified person,function or organization is a primary target 78 a or a secondary target78 b. The primary contacts are those contacts that may have a vestedinterest in any decisions made affecting the offering and likely wouldbe closely involved in making such decisions or approving a purchase.The secondary contacts are those contacts that may have a vestedinterest in any decisions made with respect to the offering, may play arole in the decision process (e.g., may recommend which vendor to selector may be an end user), but probably do not make the final decision orgive final approval to the purchase. Information identified in the keycustomer problems section 72 can be derived from information identifiedin the QICpic template 4 (FIG. 4A).

A customer benefits template that includes sample information based onthe illustrative example is shown in FIGS. 5B and 5C. As shown, for eachkey customer problem 72 identified, the impact/benefit is indicated insection 74. The template also indicates in section 76 a listing ofpersons, functions or organization that likely may be concerned with theidentified problem and solution. At section 78 there is a marking toindicate whether the identified person is a primary target 78 a orsecondary target 78 b.

The value questions template 6 (FIG. 1) helps the sales channel uncoverthe value of the offering for each prospect. In particular, the positivequalifiers 70 in the QICpic template 4 (FIG. 4A) are used to developquestions that help the sales person uncover the potential value of theoffering. The value questions are developed to help the sales channelidentify the prospect's current business environment, desired result ofneed, and the impact or ROI of change. An embodiment of the valuequestions template 6 is illustrated in FIG. 6A.

The first column of the template consists of the key qualifiers 80 foran offering based on the positive qualifiers 70 from the QICpic template4 (FIG. 4A). The remaining four columns include queries directed toopening questions 82, current situation 84, desired result 86 and impact88. Development of these queries requires two elements, namely, usingopened ended questions and ensuring that no value judgments are impliedin the question. A value questions template that includes sampleinformation based on the illustrative example is illustrated in FIGS. 6Bthrough 6D.

The anticipated objections template 7 (FIG. 1) provides the saleschannel with answers to common customer objections or misunderstandings.In particular, the negative qualifiers 68 in the QICpic template 4 (FIG.4A) are used to develop answers to anticipated customer objections. Anembodiment of the anticipated objections template 7 is shown in FIG. 7A.

The first column of the template is directed to listing the anticipatedobjections 90. The second column pertains to the underlying question 92in relation to the anticipated objection denoted in the first column 90.In the third column are listed answers and explanations 94 correspondingto the underlying question in the second column 92. Sample informationbased on the illustrative example for the anticipated objectionstemplate is shown in FIGS. 7B and 7C.

The Return on Investment (ROI) spreadsheet template 8 (FIG. 1) providesa format to quantify the potential value of an offering. The ROItemplates can be developed from the customer feedback provided fromoutput of the value questions template 6 (FIG. 6A). In particular, thisis achieved by analyzing each impact question 88 on the value questionstemplate 6. Since every offering has different variables, the ROItemplates are generally customized and tailored for each offering. Anembodiment of an ROI template 8 pertaining to an offering aspectrelating to a new hire ramp up is illustrated in FIG. 8A. Application ofthe example template to analyze three different exemplary scenarios isshown in FIG. 8B.

The competitive landscape template 9 (FIG. 1) provides the sales channelwith a comparison of the strengths and weaknesses of an offering againstthe alternatives. An embodiment of the template is illustrated in FIG.9A. The template includes a first column 96 for listing capabilities.For each of these capabilities a ranking of customer importance isindicated in column 98 based on a customer importance scale 112 of high,medium, and low. In column 100 for each capability the user indicatesrespective reality and perception measures 100 a, 100 b for the offeringcompany based on a capability ranking scale 110. Likewise, for one ormore competitors of the offering company listed in successive columns102, the capabilities are ranked using the same ranking scale 110. Incolumn 104 the user can indicate a quality of strength for the offeringcompany for one or more of the capabilities based on a strength type114. A competitive landscape template that includes sample informationbased on the illustrative example is illustrated in FIG. 9B.

As noted above, the win/lose ground rules template 10 (FIG. 1) isdirected to identifying criteria relating to reasons why sales for aparticular offering are won or lost, based on information from thecompetitive landscape template 9. An embodiment of the template is shownin FIG. 10A. The template includes a first column 116 for listingso-called ground rules indicating “where we win”. Likewise, a secondcolumn 118 is provided for listing ground rules indicating “where welose”. FIG. 10B shows a template that includes sample information forthe illustrative example.

The competitive tactics template 11 (FIG. 1) provides the sales channelwith an indication of the tactics that competitors may use to positiontheir offerings against the company's offerings, based on informationfrom the competitive landscape template 9. An embodiment of the templateis illustrated in FIG. 11A. The template includes a first column 120 forlisting entries indicating information relating to what the competitorswill stress. Columns 122 are included for each identified competitor. Amarking (e.g., a checkmark or ‘x’) in a particular column 122 is used toindicate whether an entry in column 120 applies to one or morecompetitors. A template having sample information for the illustrativeexample is shown in FIG. 11B.

The probability questions template 12 is directed to helping the saleschannel determine the probability of eventually closing the sale. Asnoted above, the capabilities of the company's offering in thecompetitive landscape template 9 (FIG. 9A) that are ranked higher thancompetitive offerings are used to develop ideal buying criteria queriesor probability questions. An embodiment of the probability questionstemplate is illustrated in FIG. 12A. The template includes foursections: ideal buying criteria questions 124, decision processquestions 126, time frame questions 128 and budget questions 130. FIG.12B shows a template with sample information based on the illustrativeexample.

The value proposition template 13 is directed to providing the saleschannel with information corresponding to high impact, focused speakingpoints for use in communicating with prospects and customers. Thecapabilities of the company's offering that are ranked higher thancompetitive offerings in the competitive landscape template 9 (FIG. 9A)are also used to develop a value proposition, also referred to asmessaging components. An embodiment of the value proposition template isillustrated in FIG. 13A. The template includes three sections thatcorrespond to speaking points: silver bullets 132, best combinations 134and focused messages 136. A value propositions section includes an area138 for indicating information relating to reasons why the company isunique in the particular market of interest. Area 140 of the valuepropositions section is used to indicate information concerning reasonswhy the company is considered a strong supplier in that market. Atemplate with sample information for the illustrative example is shownin FIGS. 13B and 13C.

Capabilities of the company's offering in the competitive landscapetemplate 9 (FIG. 9A) that rank higher than competitive offerings areused to develop the opening sales script or so-called two-minute drilltemplate 14 (FIG. 1). The two-minute drill template 14 provides thesales channel with information corresponding to an opening salespresentation that can be used to effectively earn qualities such astrust and confidence of the prospective customer of the offering ofinterest. An embodiment of a two-minute drill template 14 is shown inFIG. 14A. The template includes four sections 142, 144, 146, 148 forindicating information corresponding to answers to questions of “who Iam”, “who I represent”, “how our company differentiates itself” and “howyou might possibly benefit by selecting our company as your businesspartner”, respectively. A template with sample information based on theillustrative example is shown in FIG. 14B.

The proposal template 15 (FIG. 1) is directed to providing the saleschannel with an outline for presenting customer solutions. An embodimentof a proposal template may include the following elements:

Executive overview Results of customer interviews Key customerchallenges Company solution overview - mapped to key challengesImplementation details Project plan and timeline Investment requirementsReturn on investment Appendices Contract and payment terms Spec sheetsand supporting literature

Having described the template elements that can be used to develop asales guide containing quality selling information, a process for usingthe sales guide to document customer needs assessments is now described.Reference is now made to FIG. 15 which illustrates an embodiment of aprocess for developing a documented customer needs assessment orso-called letter of understanding 16 based on information derived fromthe QICpic template 4 (FIG. 4A), value questions template 6 (FIG. 6A),ROI spreadsheet template 8 (FIG. 8A), competitive landscape template 9(FIG. 9A), probability questions template 12 (FIG. 12A), valueproposition template 13 (FIG. 13A) and two-minute drill template 14(FIG. 14A).

Generally, information from the QICpic template 4, competitive landscapetemplate 9, value questions template 6 and the probability questionstemplate 12 is accessed by sales persons of the company to conduct acustomer needs assessment. One or more qualifiers relating to anoffering from the QICpic template are identified. Value criteria foreach qualifier are determined using the value questions template toidentify potential value of the sales offering. Ideal buying criteriaare determined based on the competitive analysis information of thecompetitive landscape template. From the value and buying criteria,sales information can be developed. In particular, the resultingdocumentation of the assessment is generated as a letter ofunderstanding (LOU) 16. The LOU can be used to develop customer-centeredsolutions, communicate customer information throughout the organizationand with partners, develop return on investment projections, developproposals, close and negotiate, and can be archived to retain importantcustomer information. An embodiment of the LOU includes the followingdescriptive elements: present situation, desired result, impact,decision criteria, decision process, timeframe, budget and next steps.The following table lists information for these elements based on theillustrative example:

Present Rampac Manufacturing is a leading supplier of high performancesituation parts for customizing high performance automobiles. Rampacparts are the components of choice for many NASCAR and drag racing crewsthroughout the United States. Parts are distributed to over 2500 keycustomers, and the company enjoys a tremendous amount of repeat businessfrom its customer base. Revenues are currently at $955 million, and havebeen growing steadily since the company's inception in 1966. Profitmargins have always been good, but recently have been shrinking. Thecause for this is the increase administrative costs associated withhaving knowledgeable support people man a bank of phones to answertechnical questions and provide sales support. In the last two yearsalone these costs have risen over 185%, costing the companyapproximately $7.5 million in profits. In February of 2000 you initiatedan aggressive program to use the Internet to improve customercommunications, lower labor costs, and more tightly link your keycustomers to your manufacturing floor. The desired outcome was lowercost and improved service. This has not happened. The system is boggeddown, customers complain that they can't find what they want, and thatthe system is “too slow”. Costs have increased and customer satisfactionhas gone down as a result. Desired You have decided that you will notgive up on the Internet because you result believe it is the best (andonly) way to get administrative costs under control and improve customersatisfaction. You are actively looking for a company with the expertiseto “straighten out somebody else's mess”, by doing a complete analysisof what you have, what you should have, and link this to your businessprocess so that you achieve your objectives. You indicated that,fortunately, the recent drop in customer satisfaction levels has notcost you a great deal of business. This is due to the high quality ofyour products, your reputation in the business, and the belief yourcustomers have that this is “just a speed bump” - they have faith thatyou'll straighten it out. Impact If you do not straighten this out soon,customers will lose faith and you believe you will start to losebusiness. A Canadian competitor is looking to enter the US market, andany vulnerability on your part would be an open invitation for them toattack your customer base. They could easily cost you $10-15 million inrevenue if they got a foothold in your market. If you can put in thetype of Internet communication system you originally envisioned, notonly will this make it very unattractive for competitors to attack yourbase, it would also enable you to continue growing the business at about$9 to $10 million (10% growth) for the next two years. You alsoindicated that such a system could increase profits by $7 million inyear one, and $11.4 million in year two. Decision The following itemswere mentioned as critical criteria for selecting criteria a vendor:They must have experience in analysis, design, implementation, andlinking technical systems to business processes. This needs to beverified with solid references. You've become convinced that an overallarchitectural plan is required to do this right, and would like to see asample of such a plan done by vendors who make it to your “short list”Manufacturing expertise would be a big plus Manufacturing references (ontop of expertise) would be an even bigger plus The vendor has to have asolid plan that outlines the progress they anticipate making in the next12 months, given a $2 million budget. Decision As the president of thecompany, you are the sole decision maker on process purchases up to $2.5million. Purchases larger than that will require a meeting of the Boardof Directors, who usually approve anything you bring to them as long aspayback can be achieved in less than 18 months. Time You are anxious toget moving as soon as possible. To achieve this, frame you want aReference Report from each of the five vendors you are considering.These are due on March 21, and you will pick three “short list” vendorsand contact them on Monday, March 24. Each vendor has to have a proposalto you by Friday, March 28, and meetings with each vendor will be heldthe following week. Your intent is to make a decision by Monday, March31, and have the selected vendor start work on Friday, April 4. BudgetYou have allocated $2 million for this fiscal year. You know that fixingall your ills could cost more than double this figure, but you want tokeep this year's expenditures within the confines of that amount.However, you have also indicated that if a vendor provides a solidreason why more should be spent this year because it will generate abetter return on investment, you will go to the Board for approval ofadditional funds. Next Please review this letter for accuracy, and letme know if there's steps anything I misunderstood or left out. I'llcontact you by this Friday to get your observations. If you prefer, youcan send me a quick note or FAX with any concerns or changes. Once I'msure we are on the same track, we will start working on the plans wewould submit to achieve your objectives. Thanks again for your time.

Having described processes for developing the sales guides based ontemplates (FIG. 1) and using the sales guide templates to develop LOUs(FIG. 15), a quality selling information system 200 is now describedwith reference to FIG. 16. The system includes a server 208 that storesand archives developed sales guides 210 and LOUs 212A. The server 208can be any computer-based device or system having storage and processingcapabilities accessible over a local area or wide area network, and maycomprise a customer relationship management system server that isaccessible over the Internet or corporate intranets or both. The salesguides 210 may comprise information based on the process described inconnection with FIG. 1, FIG. 15 or other process for developing qualityselling information, as represented by sales content generation block206. The LOUs 212A may comprise information relating to a customer needsassessment conducted with respect to a particular customer or customersof an offering corresponding to a particular sales guide 210.

In operation of the system, sales persons 202 have the ability to accessthe server 208 via computer 204 to retrieve a particular sales guidepertaining to an offering of interest to a customer 214. Based oninteractions with the customer 214 using information contained intemplates of the retrieved sales guide 210, the sales person may developa new LOU 212 for that customer. In other situations, the sales personmay retrieve an archived LOU 212A to be modified for use with thecustomer. The newly developed LOU 212 or modified LOU can besubsequently stored on the server 208.

According to one aspect of the system 200, the Internet or a corporateintranet may be used to post to the server 208 the quality sellinginformation embodied in the sales guides 210 developed by the marketingorganization. This can help both the sales organization and businesspartners to quickly find the quality “who to sell” and “how to sell”information for an unlimited number of offerings. In addition, suchposting capability facilitates the introduction of additional offeringsand allows new sales personnel to rapidly acquire the quality sellinginformation needed to perform at a high skill level. Likewise, postingdocumented LOUs to a customer relationship management system providessales and customer support personnel with useful and importanthistorical customer information. Product development and marketingpersonnel can use the documented LOUs to identify new market or productopportunities. In addition, such documentation can be used to providequality control with respect to the sales organization and partners thatconduct the customer needs assessments.

Another aspect of the system 200 is feedback between the sales channeland the marketing organization. This is represented in FIG. 16 as afeedback loop 216 from the sales person 202 and the sales contentgeneration block 206. Such a loop between marketing and the saleschannel allows the company to adjust and revise the marketing plansembodied in the sales guides 210 at selected intervals, e.g.,periodically or based on milestones in the selling cycle. Whenimprovements to the quality selling information are identified by thesales channel, the Internet can be used to communicate theseimprovements back to marketing who in turn updates the quality sellinginformation. This ensures that a company's tactical selling informationwill change in real time as changes occur in the market place. This canbe accomplished through the continuous input and best practices of allparticipants in the marketing plan implementation chain.

While this invention has been particularly shown and described withreferences to preferred embodiments thereof, it will be understood bythose skilled in the art that various changes in form and details may bemade therein without departing from the scope of the inventionencompassed by the appended claims.

1. A system of developing a customer needs assessment, the systemcomprising: a qualifier template identifying at least one qualifierpertaining to a sales offering; a value template coupled to thequalifier template, the value template including at least one of thequalifiers from the qualifier template; a competitive analysis templateproviding ideal buying criteria in connection with the sales offering;customer needs assessment data including output from the value templateand the competitive analysis template; and a server configured to storeand retrieve the qualifier, value and competitive analysis templates andthe customer needs assessment data, where the qualifier, value andcompetitive analysis templates are configured to be updated based on aniterative process that is responsive to feedback about the customerneeds assessment data.
 2. A system of developing a customer needsassessment according to claim 1 wherein each qualifier further includesa characteristic which relates to a buyer or a seller.
 3. A system ofdeveloping a customer needs assessment according to claim 2 wherein thecharacteristic is at least one of: an attribute of the seller, attributeof the buyer, potential need of the buyer, or potential problem for thebuyer.
 4. A computer program product according to claim 3 wherein aserver includes the one or more processors, the server being configuredto store and retrieve the qualifier, value and competitive analysistemplates and the customer needs assessment data.
 5. A system ofdeveloping a customer needs assessment according to claim 1 wherein thevalue template is configured to determine value criteria for at leastone of the qualifiers using an open-ended query statement.
 6. A systemof developing a customer needs assessment according to claim 5 whereinthe open-ended query statement enables a seller to determine a potentialproblem for a buyer.
 7. A computer program product according to claim 5wherein the templates are updatable on the server based on an iterativeprocess that is responsive to feedback about the customer needsassessment data.
 8. A system of developing a customer needs assessmentaccording to claim 6 wherein the open-ended query statement is used bythe seller in an information gathering procedure that is arranged toenable the seller to determine information relevant to solving thepotential problem for the buyer.
 9. A system of developing a customerneeds assessment according to claim 1 wherein the competitive analysistemplate is configured to determine ideal buying criteria based on acompetitive analysis by determining a potential value of the salesoffering by using the value criteria to process a quantitative analysis.10. A system of developing a customer needs assessment according toclaim 9 wherein the competitive analysis is based on a strengths andweaknesses analysis of the sales offering.
 11. A system of developing acustomer needs assessment, the system comprising: one or more computerprocessors configured to process a qualifier template, a value template,a competitive analysis template, and customer needs assessment data; thequalifier template configured to identify at least one qualifierpertaining to a sales offering; the value template being coupled to thequalifier template, the value template configured to include at leastone of the qualifiers from the qualifier template; the competitiveanalysis template configured to provide ideal buying criteria inconnection with the sales offering; and the customer needs assessmentdata including output from the value template and the competitiveanalysis template.
 12. A system according to claim 11 further comprisinga server for storage and retrieval of the qualifier, value andcompetitive analysis templates and the customer needs assessment data.13. A system according to claim 12 wherein the templates can be updatedon the server based on an iterative process that is responsive tofeedback about the customer needs assessment data.
 14. A computerprogram product for developing a customer needs assessment, the programproduct comprising code embodied on a non-transitory computer-readablemedium and configured so as when executed on a processor to process: aqualifier template configured to identify at least one qualifierpertaining to a sales offering; a value template being coupled to thequalifier template, the value template configured to include at leastone of the qualifiers from the qualifier template; a competitiveanalysis template configured to provide ideal buying criteria inconnection with the sales offering; and customer needs assessment dataincluding output from the value template and the competitive analysistemplate.